Langley Aircraft May Aid Drug Fight

Jets Would Be Used To Track Traffickers

LANGLEY — Planes from Langley Air Force Base probably will be used to help stem the flow of illegal drugs into the country, the head of one of the Tactical Air Command's key units said Tuesday.

Aircraft from the base's 1st Tactical Fighter Wing would be used to identify and track drug traffickers under such a scenario, said Lt. Gen. Charles A. Horner, who as 9th Air Force commander is in charge of most of the Tactical Air Command - TAC - fighter units east of the Missisippi River.

As in other military anti-drug-trafficking plans, aircraft from the wing would tip off civilian law enforcement agencies to the presence of smugglers, Horner said. He declined to provide specifics of the Air Force plan or say when he expected Langley planes might take on this role.

Air Force AWACs radar planes and U-2 and RF-4 reconnaissance planes already have figured into Pentagon drug war plans to monitor air traffic coming into the country.

The Langley unit could add EC-135s, which serve as airborne command posts, and the F-15 Eagle fighter jet, Langley's main plane, to the group of aircraft enlisted to monitor drug smugglers.

Unlike some of the larger, high-flying spy planes now being used, the small fighter planes can get close enough for the pilots to visually identify drug trafficking boats or aircraft, a source at Langley said.

The proposed use of heavily armed fighter planes such as the F-15 in drug enforcement has drawn the ire of critics who say that plan is too costly and would take the military away from its traditional role of military defense.

Flying missions to look for smugglers' planes and boats only detracts from military readiness since those flights - known as sorties - are "vastly different" from flying a mock battle against other jets, Carroll said.

"If you're flying around looking for light planes and cigarette boats, you'd have to dedicate your entire sortie just to drug interdiction," he said.

No matter what the critics say, Congress has ordered the Defense Department to come up with drug plans. And some military programs show that the Pentagon has gotten involved.

When he was commander of the Southeast Defense Region, Horner was in charge of two Florida-based balloons that carried radar equipment used to track slow, low-flying drug traffickers.

"We'll probably do more and more in the future," Horner said.

Horner, who was at Langley Tuesday to present awards at an Air Force Association luncheon, also said the Langley wing will continue "to be one of the key units for anything we do in the Middle East."

The 9th Air Force is the air arm of the U.S. Central Command, which focuses its attention on Southwest Asia.

Improving relations between the Soviet Union and the United States gives both countries the opportunity to address the issues instead of fighting each other, he said.

Horner added that given the Soviet Union's internal problems, the other superpower "is less likely to be adventurous."

He said, however, that the United States shouldn't let its guard down totally since "they are still the nation that can annihilate us."